Today, Attorney General Sam Olens was joined at the State Capitol by State Bar of Georgia President Charles Ruffin, State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division (YLD) President Darrell Sutton and Georgia Food Bank Association Executive Director Danah Craft to launch the 2014 Georgia Legal Food Frenzy, a statewide food drive competition among Georgia lawyers. The third annual competition will take place April 21, 2014 – May 2, 2014, with a goal of collecting the equivalent of one million pounds of food for Georgia families.

The Georgia Legal Food Frenzy is a partnership between the Georgia Attorney General, the YLD and the Georgia Food Bank Association. Lawyers statewide are challenged to compete outside the courtroom to raise food and funds for Georgia’s seven regional food banks, which distributed over 103 million pounds of food last year to all 159 counties in Georgia.

Over the last 2 years, more than 15,000 members of the legal profession in cities across the state have raised the equivalent of 1.4 million pounds of food for their regional food banks. Last year alone, Georgia lawyers generously donated the equivalent of over 842,000 pounds of food.

The competition will occur as food banks are preparing for the critical summer months when they see a spike in demand. Nearly 60% of Georgia’s public school students are eligible for either a free or reduced lunch each day, and families of many of these children rely on food banks to provide a complete, balanced meal when their children are not in school. All of the food collected will be donated directly to the regional food bank that serves each competitor’s community.

“It has been an honor to partner with the Young Lawyers Division and the Georgia Food Bank Association on the Legal Food Frenzy,” said Olens. “The success of the competition over the past two years has far exceeded our expectations, and I am tremendously proud of the generosity of the legal community in Georgia. Their kindness has helped feed families across our state, and I look forward to reaching our goal of collecting one million pounds of food in 2014.”

“The tremendous success of the Georgia Legal Food Frenzy during its first two years shows everyone what the legal community of our state can accomplish when we make the effort and work together,” said Ruffin. “Let’s ramp up the competition and make 2014 the first year we go above and beyond one million pounds of food – assisting even more families and further fulfilling our collective duty to help others.”

“For the past 68 years the members of the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia have time and again seized upon the opportunity to serve both our profession and, just as importantly, the public,” said Sutton. The Legal Food Frenzy presents us with our latest opportunity to serve and, in the process, an opportunity to take another step toward eradicating hunger among our fellow Georgians.”

“The timing of this competition comes at a critical time for the regional food banks to help them meet the increased demand for food during the summer months when kids are out of school,” said Craft. “We know that the food and funds raised during this competition will make a difference in their communities.”

All attorneys in Georgia, from law firms, to solo-practitioners, to public sector offices are encouraged to participate. The office which raises the most food and funds statewide will be awarded the Attorney General’s Cup. Awards will also be given to the winners of several different categories. The winner of the 2013 competition, solo practitioner Walter “Bo” Sammons of Warner Robins, collected over 9000 pounds of food.